The millennium or the millennial reign of Christ is a period of one thousand years when Christ will reign on Earth and Satan will be locked up to deceive the nations no more. After the thousand years is up Satan will be let loose for one final battle before he is thrown in the lake of fire.
There are several views regarding the millennium amongst Christians. The most mainstream, simple and face value interpretation is that after the end times period there will be a thousand years where Christ reigns on earth. After this Satan is loosed one more time and is defeated and thrown into the lake of fire. After this a new Heaven and Earth are created.
There is also what’s known as the amillennialism view. This view states that the thousand years isn’t literally a thousand years and it is happening now as Christ rules from heaven. There is also a postmillenium view that the thousand years is not literal and that Christ will come back after a long period of time after Christians establish the Kingdom on Earth. There are of course many other views but these are the most popular ones.
The scripture that speaks most directly about the millennium is
Revelation chapter 20. In a nutshell this chapter says, Satan will be bound for 1000 years, those who were beheaded for Christ and did not take the mark of the beast come to life and reign with Christ for 1000 years, after this period Satan is released and gathers forces to make war against God’s people, fire comes down from heaven and Satan is thrown into the lake of fire, the great white thrown judgment happens and then death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire.
This brings up one key question. Who will rule during the millennium? It appears that there are several resurrections. Many people also believe there will be a rapture that is in addition to other resurrections. The verses used to describe the rapture can be used to describe the second coming of Christ. While some see these as two different events there is no clear passage saying they are separate. To complicate matters further Revelation 20 only seems to speak to those who were beheaded for Christ as ruling during the millennium.
Revelation 20:4-6
4I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
At the very least this passage seems to indicate that there are Christians during the tribulation period because it says they did not take the mark of the beast or worship him or his image. So either there is no pre tribulation rapture or people will get saved during this time and not worship the beast.
A concern might be that only those who were persecuted during the tribulation will rule during the thousand years. The passage does say that the rest of dead were not raised until after the millennium. However, we know from the
passage about Lazarus and the rich man that when death comes for unbelievers they go straight to torment and the believers do not have soul sleep but go somewhere else. In the case of Lazarus he went to Abraham’s bosom because Jesus had not died and been resurrected yet some speculate that this was heaven. We know that there are more places than just Heaven and hell, For instance Jesus said that when he died he
would be in the heart of the Earth for three days just like Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days. Yet Jesus also told the thief on the cross that he would
see him in Paradise that night. It seems that Paradise was not the same as heaven and that Paradise was at least for some time in the heart of the Earth. Paul said that to be
away from the body is to be with the Lord. In eternity we will not be away from our bodies but have a resurrected body. So either other Christians are in heaven during this thousand years or they are included with those who rule on Earth.
There is a reference that seems to indicate that the other believers will rule during the thousand years and not sit in heaven. In Revelation it says they came to life and reigned a thousand years. It calls this the first resurrection. It says blessed and holy are those who take part in the first resurrection and the second death has no power over them. In verses 11 – 14 it talks about a second resurrection though it is not called that directly. It says the dead were judged according to what they had done. It calls the lake of fire the second death and says that anyone whose name was not found in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Though it is not spelled out here we know that Christians will not face the second death. Since the second resurrection only mentions the second death it may be that this is only the resurrection of those who are not believers.
One more important question is, who are Gog and Magog?
Verse 7-8
7When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.
Gog and Magog are also referenced in Ezekiel
chapter 38. There however, Gog and Magog seem to be specific. In Revelation Gog and Magog seem to reference parts of the whole world. Some people think Ezekiel and Revelation refer to the same countries and the same battle. But they appear too different to be the same event. It seems more likely that Gog and Magog may be a reference back to Ezekiel but meaning in general those who oppose God and who will seek to battle Him. This could also be the second fulfillment of the prophecy of Ezekiel 38. Some prophecy does seem to have double fulfillment. Before Christ came, most Jews expected Jesus to come once and didn’t understand that he would come twice. It is now much clearer that Jesus has two comings. Jesus did not come the first time to rule the nations the way Jews envisioned but he will do so the second time.
After the Millennium the Bible says that God will create a new Heaven and a new Earth and that is where those who have placed their faith in Him will live forever.
